Licensing Exam Information

June 2020 Update: The 2020 LSBOE Licensing Exam is proceeding in-person as scheduled on July 17-18, 2020, at Willis-Knighton Eye Institute - North, 2611 Greenwood Rd., Shreveport, Louisiana, Phone (318) 212-2020. The LSBOE is aware of the challenges candidates are facing in obtaining all the required documents for the exam as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. For this year only, candidates may submit just their payment & application, and will be allowed to take the licensing exam. Candidates doing so will then have 90 days from the date of the exam administration to provide any outstanding documents, and if successful on the exam, their license will be held until all documents are received and verified. Infection protocols & social distancing plans are in place for the examination, and all candidates will be required to wear a mask for both the Friday & Saturday sessions of the exam. Please bring your mask or one will be provided on-site. The agenda will follow the typical schedule of events as presented below, and the deadline for the application and payment to arrive at the LSBOE office is June 17, 2020.

The exam to obtain a license to practice optometry in the state of Louisiana is typically administered the third weekend in July at Willis-Knighton Eye Institue - North, 2611 Greenwood Rd., Shreveport, Louisiana, Phone (318) 212-2020. Please contact the Louisiana State Board of Optometry Examiners' (LSBOE) office to confirm exact dates/times/location for any given year. Candidates should plan to spend Friday night in the Shreveport-Bossier City area, and must complete & return the Application for Licensing Exam found on the LSBOE website (along with all required materials & payment) no later than 30 days prior to exam administration.

The Louisiana Legislature has passed numerous laws governing the practice and regulation of the profession of optometry, all of which are fair game for the licensing exam. Additionally, the LSBOE has promulgated numerous rules & regulations to implement and enforce these laws, all of which are also fair game for the licensing exam. Applicants are strongly encouraged to become intimately familiar with all aspects of these laws and rules/regulations (click links to review).

The Licensing Exam consists of 3 parts:

1) A multiple choice and/or true-false Jurisprudence/Law Exam (comprising 20% of the candidate's overall score) covering in detail all aspects of both the laws & the rule/regulations governing the LSBOE & the practice of optometry in Louisiana;

3) A Clinical Practical Exam(comprising 60% of the candidate's overall score) that involves multiple stations through which candidates rotate to answer questions after either examining live patients, interpreting provided test results, and/or demonstrating entry-level competence in optometric skills (including advanced procedures such as allowed lasers and lid procedures). An outline of potential topics on the exam can be found here and on the LSBOE website under "Applying for a Louisiana Optometry License."

Candidates are not to share exam questions with others who may take the Louisiana licensing examination.

A typical schedule of events for the licensing exam is as follows (subject to change):

Friday 2:00pm-5:00pm - Lasers to be used in the practical exam are available for applicants to familiarize themselves with & to ask questions of the manufacturer's representatives (participation optional, Willis-Knighton Eye Institute - North)

Saturday 8:30am - 11:45am (approximate) - Orientation & group assignments, followed by rotation through multiple exam stations, 2 stations of which will be dedicated to advanced procedures such as YAG capsulotomy, YAG peripheral iridotomy, Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty, injections, & lid procedures; and 1 station of which will be an ungraded, informal question & answer interview with members of the LSBOE.

The results of each question from the licensing exam will be analyzed for validity after test administration, and questions which have been incorrectly answered by an extraordinary number of applicants may be removed from scoring consideration. Tests will be graded as quickly as possible, with a minimum overall score of 70% typically required for passage. Pass/Fail results should be available the Monday after the exam is administered, and candidates should call the LSBOE office for their results. Once an applicant passes the licensing exam, pays the requisite license fees, and completes all requirements for licensure, the state of Louisiana further requires all health care licensing boards to complete several administrative tasks prior to issuance of a license number. This process may take 1-2 weeks, so please contact the LSBOE to check the status of your license.

If an applicant fails to pass the examination, he/she may, after the expiration of 6 months, take a second examination without paying an additional fee, if this examination is held within 2 years after the failure.